At Healthy Holistic Living we search the web for alternative health content to share with you. This article is shared with permission from our friends at Waking Times.

As cannabis becomes more integrated within mainstream culture, millions are becoming more educated on the many benefits of THC and cannabinoids. Not only does cannabis consumption lower insulin resistance, but it also improves fasting insulin and facilitates metabolic function. More athletes and even those engaged in moderate recreational fitness have incredible benefits from daily consumption of the once demonized plant.

Coupled with the pain-relieving effects of both plant and human-derived cannabinoids, cannabis and exercise seem to go hand in hand if you’re looking to improve your physical health.

Insulin is a hormone made by the pancreas that allows your body to use sugar (glucose) from carbohydrates in the food that you eat for energy or to store glucose for future use. Insulin helps keeps your blood sugar level from getting too high or too low. If you consume a meal which make blood glucose levels rise quickly, insulin secretion often overshoots to compensate and the excess is stored as fat. If you have too much unused glucose in your cells, you will gain weight. If your body isn’t handling insulin properly, you may also gain weight.

A study published in the American Journal of Medicine has found that regular cannabis consumers have fasting insulin (insulin in your body before eating) levels 16% lower than non-consumers. The study also found that cannabis consumers had 17% lower insulin resistance levels and lower average waist circumferences. The researchers concluded that there were significant associations between marijuana use and smaller waist circumferences.

Some athletes swear by using marijuana or its isolated active ingredients, such as delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) as performance-enhancing drugs, saying these substances ease anxiety and increase pain threshold so that they can push themselves during workouts.

“Marijuana relaxes me and allows me to go into a controlled, meditational place,” Drusinsky told Men’s Journal. “When I get high, I train smarter and focus on form.”

Researchers say that marijuana has an anti-inflammatory effect and that the chemical compounds that come from weed might mimic the body’s natural endorphins, which could help increase our pain threshold like a natural runner’s high and make it easier to push through a tough workout.

Contrary to popular thought, it’s not just the endorphins (the compounds which make you feel excited after activities such as exercise and sex) that make physical activity so great. A 2003 studyfound that exercise actually activates the endocannabinoid system in the same way that the cannabis plant does. The endocannabinoid system is a group of lipids (types of fats) and cell receptors that cannabinoids (compounds like THC and CBD) bind to inside the body. The endocannabinoid system is responsible for easing pain, controlling appetite, and influences mood and memory.

Perhaps as a coping mechanism for easing pain, the body naturally produces its own cannabinoids during exercise. In the aforementioned study, researchers found that human-produced cannabinoids increase as you exercise, causing you to feel a little “high.”

It’s not news to the medical community that the human body stores tetrahydrocannabidiol (THC), the main psychoactive in cannabis, in fat. However, a study put out this August in Drug and Alcohol Dependence has shown that this storage process can give exercisers an extra boost, even up to 28 days after consumption.

As the body begins to burn off fat, small amounts of THC are released back into the bloodstream, producing an effect similar to consuming a small amount of cannabis. THC blood levels increased by approximately 15% immediately after moderate exercise, yet this increase was no longer present two hours after the workout.

Researchers discovered that engaging in exercise can provide you with a stronger buzz and increase the potency of the marijuana. The fact is that working out for just a half hour will trigger an additional stronger high for marijuana users.

This study also showed a correlation between THC release and BMI. The greater the BMI, the greater the increase in THC reintroduced to the body.

Exercise Also Activates the Brain’s Endocannabinoid System

In a 2003 study, researchers uncovered the truth that marijuana and exercise both activate the same endocannabinoid system in the brain.

As a group of lipids, fats, and cell receptors that THC bind to when smoking weed, the endocannabinoid system plays a prominent role in the neurological system for maintaining homeostasis for overall human health. In short, the endocannabinoid system is responsible for easing our pain, controlling our appetite, relieving our stress, influencing our mood, and even regulating our memory. In order to help our body cope with pain from rigorous physical activity, our brain will naturally produce its own version of cannabinoids to stimulate this system during exercise. Just like taking a hit of marijuana, the natural cannabinoids will begin to circulate through the endocannabinoid system when you exercise to produce a high.

Peak blood concentrations of cannabinoids occur in 3-8 minutes after you inhale, as opposed to 60-90 minutes after you eat a weed- or oil-containing edible, with neural effects beginning after 20 minutes and maximizing within a range of 2-4 hours.

A 2013 adjusted epidemiological study showed that obesity rates are significantly lower for all groups of cannabis users (inclusive of gender and age) compared to those who had not used cannabis in the last 12 months.

The lower Body Mass Index (BMI) of pot-smokers may be explained by an adaptive down-regulation of brain endocannabinoid signaling. While acute THC stimulates appetite, the repeated stimulation of CB1 receptors by THC decreases receptor expression and sensitivity, and long-term stimulation may result in antagonistic rather than agonistic triggering of CB1 receptors, which would dampen hunger signals.

Considering that up until about 85 years ago, cannabis oil was used around the world to treat a variety of diseases, including cancer, it is not surprising that the phasing out of cannabis to treat illness coincided with the rise of pharmaceutical companies.

Rick Simpson, a medical marijuana activist, is on a crusade to help others heal. He regards cannabis as the most medicinally active plant on the face of the earth, and shared this apparent miracle with others — completely free of charge. He now has thousands of testimonials from those who were healed from ‘incurable’ disease to back up his claims ~ that cannabis annihilates cancer.

For the naysayers out there who are still not convinced about the effectiveness of cannabis for curing cancer, the astounding healing attributes of the plant are well documented by a wealth of peer-reviewed studies.

Traditional medicinal plant backed by modern medicine

Breast cancer

A study in Molecular Cancer Therapeutics explored the relationship between the use of cannabidiol (CBD) and the subsequent down regulation of breast cancer tumor aggressiveness. The researchers concluded that CBD represents the first nontoxic agent to decrease the aggressiveness of metastic breast cancer cells in vivo.

Cannabis was shown to induce cytotoxicity in leukemia cell lines, according the the journalBlood:

“We have shown that THC is a potent inducer of apoptosis, even at 1 x IC(50) (inhibitory concentration 50%) concentrations and as early as 6 hours after exposure to the drug. These effects were seen in leukemic cell lines (CEM, HEL-92, and HL60) as well as in peripheral blood mononuclear cells.”

It also did not appear that the cannabis was simply aiding other chemo drugs — it was independently bringing about results with the active compound THC responsible for cancer cell death in vitro.

Likewise, a study in the Molecular Pharmacology Journal found that non psychoactive cannabidiol dramatically induced apoptosis (cell death) in leukemia cells. “Together, the results from this study reveal that cannabidiol, acting through CB2 and regulation of Nox4 and p22(phox) expression, may be a novel and highly selective treatment for leukemia.”

Research published in the paper Prostaglandins, Leukotrienes and Essential Fatty Acidsfound that cannabinoid compounds play a vital role in modulating the immune system to improve the outcome of a cancer diagnosis. In short, the team believes “[t]he experimental evidence reviewed in this article argues in favor of the therapeutic potential of these compounds in immune disorders and cancer.”

Moreover, the study Cannabinoids and the immune system confirms that cannabimimetic agents have substantial effects on natural killer cells, thereby providing therapeutic usefulness in reducing tumor growth and the induction of apoptosis. Therefore, cannabis demonstrates a “subtle but significant role in the regulation of immunity and that this role can eventually be exploited in the management of human disease.”

Cervical cancer

Uterine cervical cancer cells are significantly influenced by cannabis as well. Published in Gynecologic Oncology, the research team discovered that the compound induced apoptosis in cervical carcinoma (CxCa) cell lines.

Melanoma

The most deadly form of skin cancer, melanoma has relatively few options of treatment beyond prevention and early detection. With this in mind, the findings of the study Cannabinoid receptors as novel targets for the treatment of melanoma are of particular note. In animal tests, cannabinoids encouraged cancer cell death, while decreasing growth, proliferation and metastasis of melanoma cells.

“Local administration of [cannabinoids] induced a considerable growth inhibition of malignant tumors generated by inoculation of epidermal tumor cells into nude mice. Cannabinoid-treated tumors showed an increased number of apoptotic cells. This was accompanied by impairment of tumor vascularization, as determined by altered blood vessel morphology and decreased expression of proangiogenic factors (VEGF, placental growth factor, and angiopoietin 2). … These results support a new therapeutic approach for the treatment of skin tumors.”

These are just a few examples — among hundreds — that demonstrate the effectiveness of cannabis in eradicating cancer without adverse side-effects. Additionally, the following documentary explores the history and modern uses of cannabis to heal serious diseases such as cancer, AIDS, Crohn’s disease & more:

Medical Cannabis and Its Impact on Human Health: a Cannabis Documentary

Scientific Studies from the National Institute of Health

If you’re still in doubt regarding the effectiveness of cannabis for healing cancer, have a look at these 100+ scientific studies from the National Institute of Health:

If the booming marijuana industry means anything to the majority of people, it means opportunity. We’re talking about opportunities for all-around wellness and progress – and of course the economic advantages are beyond exciting.

In Colorado alone, more than 16,000 jobs have been created within the cannabis industry. And, as the Marijuana Policy Project points out, this number does not include the boost seen in collateral sectors such as real estate, law, accounting, and tourism.

A lot of marijuana jobs include what you might expect, like budtenders, trimmers, and growers. But within that same industry there are other high-skill positions which few of us saw coming.

1. State Compliance Officers

Who would’ve ever thought that the government would be hiring people to actually tend to a sanctioned marijuana industry? It’s pretty unbelievable – and yet, here we are.

States need actual cannabis regulators to ensure that those working in the industry are playing by the rules, and staying compliant with the guidelines approved by voters. Previously, the only government job similar to this was probably with the DEA, conducting costly and invasive raids.

For states like Oregon, which is in the process of implementing its legalization laws and opening up the industry, opportunities abound to get in on the ground floor.

The need for compliance officers will continue to grow as new states join the legitimate cannabis space. This will translate to some solid, well-paying positions for professionals who are willing to work in and around the industry.

2. Venture Capitalists

Every industry has its bankrollers – but in an industry that is literally budding, such as the cannabis industry, money and investors are as important as anyone.

In fact, the opening up of the marijuana markets, state by state, is providing what is likely a once-in-a-generation opportunity for investors who are willing to put their money to work. It’s all at their own risk, of course, seeing as how cannabis is still federally outlawed.

But investors are starting to see that there is a potential windfall, a chance for explosive returns on the other end of the legalization movement. With the federal government staying out of the way, for now, venture capital firms and private investors are beginning to put their money into play. There are evenconferences and other events aimed at attracting capital to the industry.

Not only do these investors have an opportunity to make a lot of money, they also play a big role in guiding the future of the cannabis business. As inventors and entrepreneurs pitch new devices, products, and business models, the ones who receive funding will have the best chance of surviving – and shaping the industry as it evolves.

Big money makes a lot of people wary, but if the cannabis industry wants to truly grow up then attracting capital is going to be a part of the process.

3. Professors

There’s no doubt about it: the world needs cannabis professors as it adopts “higher” education.

If you, like almost everyone else, thought that the only way marijuana and education could possibly mix are during post-midterm burn sessions, or at any number of college parties – guess again.

Some higher education institutions are starting to see that legalization looks like an inevitability. In turn, they are are now offering students a chance to learn the skills to build a successful career within the new industry.

For example, Colorado’s industry is funding a new professorship at the University of Denver, specializing in marijuana law. It’s exciting to see the industry investing in its future like this. They are influencing the next batch of marijuana professionals who will, one day, take over the reins. And there are other examples out there as well.

A community college in Maryland is offering a class called “Entrepreneurial Opportunities in Emerging Markets: Marijuana Legalization,” which aims to teach students the economics and business opportunities within the industry.

And, of course, you can’t forget about other, more specialized institutions likeOaksterdam University, which offer cannabis-specific courses in everything from business to cooking to science to law and horticulture.

4. The Marijuana Media

The marijuana industry is seeing a cascade of cannabis-centric media organizations grow up right alongside it, cataloging and documenting every phase of the legalization movement.

While there have been some organizations and media companies out there for years, such as High Times, marijuana is working its way into the mainstream media.

If you had suggested a decade ago that a major newspaper, like the Denver Post, would one day have a ‘Marijuana Editor’, you would’ve likely been laughed out of the room. Yet, that position exists, and many others like it.

These are jobs being staffed by professional journalists, who are finding their way into the industry to satisfy the growing demand for cannabis coverage. Marijuana is still brand-new to a lot of people, and there is a real hunger for credible information.

5. Scientists

If there is one industry that is primed to make some big bucks from cannabis legalization, it’s probably the biotech field.

We know, and the government has finally admitted, that cannabis has some incredible medical potential, and by harnessing and commercializing that potential, there are billions to be made (not to mention the number of lives that will be transformed in the name of wellness). But it’ll take some real, highly-trained, and decorated scientists to get us there.

There are many roles for science professionals in the cannabis industry, and they will become more and more ubiquitous as biotech and pharma companies climb on board. There is and will be a need for botanists, chemists, geneticists, etc. – all needed to create and cultivate new cannabis strains, derivatives, and medicines.

Scientists are generally fascinated by the properties and overall potential of this plant. As marijuana continues to gain legitimacy in the eyes of the public, the U.S. government will hopefully continue to loosen regulations that currently inhibit researchers from learning everything they can about this medicinal herb.

6. Marijuana Marketing

The fact that in certain parts of the country a person can walk into a store and purchase legal bud is pretty amazing. What’s even more amazing – even unbelievable at certain levels – is that there are people out there whose job it is to market that cannabis product and drive customers in the door.

Yes, just like any other retail business, the cannabis industry needs marketing professionals, and it’s an area where many people looking for a career-switch can make an entrance.

There’s a lot of work to do, too. Marijuana has been a taboo subject for so many years, that the entire concept of legalization is hard for some people to digest. PR and marketing professionals are currently working to make that transition easier. They’re also putting together political and advertising campaigns, networks, and even entire firms dedicated to the cannabis industry.

Imagine thinking as a kid that you could one day be the Don Draper of pot? It’s quite remarkable how far we’ve come.

Attracting high-caliber professionals

And that’s the gist of it all: nobody saw it coming. And that goes to prove that there are tons of opportunities for everyone to get involved in the cannabis industry – and that there are a wide array of potential jobs, not just helping people pick out the right sativa.

As marijuana legalization continues to unfold and the industry continues to grow, it will attract greater numbers of high-caliber professionals and creative talent, healthy competition, and plenty of opportunity.

Want to learn more about the ins and outs of the cannabis industry? Be sure to check out The Cannabis Manifesto by Steve DeAngelo, which hits bookshelves September 22.

If you’re interested in cannabis but don’t know much about Steve, check out this amazing mini-documentary today.

This study will involve treating low back pain associated with nerve injury with oral delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC) or whole plant cannabis for eight weeks. Research subjects will consume either oral Δ9-THC (dronabinol), vaporized 3.5% Δ9-THC, or placebo. The major objective of the present study is to demonstrate an analgesic response to oral and/or inhaled cannabis in patients with neuropathic low back pain.

The primary outcome will be a pain intensity numerical rating scale bordered by 0=no pain and 10=worst possible pain. As a major goal in the development of cannabinoid-based medications is the separation of pain relief from side-effects, numerous other assessments will also be performed. Neuropsychological testing with the Digit Symbol Modalities Test (attention), the Hopkins Verbal Learning Test (learning and memory) and the Grooved Pegboard Test (psychomotor performance) will be performed. In addition, driving simulation will be completed to assess the effect of study medications on this important component of everyday life. Subjective effects will be evaluated with the Marijuana subscale (M-scale) from the Addiction Research Center Inventory to evaluate cannabis intoxication. In addition, questions that include measures of ‘high’ or ‘liking’ will be analyzed.

The degree of pain relief will then be compared with the adverse consequences of cannabis to assess the risk-benefit ratio of dronabinol and 3.5% Δ9-THC.

Medical marijuana advocates and researchers are celebrating a surprise decision by the Obama administration to scrap reviews that delayed – sometimes for years – private and state-funded research into marijuana’s medical value.

Researchers will no longer need to submit proposed pot studies to the U.S. Public Health Service for review, ending a hurdle that does not exist for research of other drugs listed as Schedule I substances – the controversial federal classification that puts marijuana alongside LSD and ecstasy.

The Department of Health and Human Services, announcing the change in a Monday notice, said the reviews – required since 1999 – are redundant. The Food and Drug Administration conducts similar vetting for pot studies as part of investigational new drug, or IND, reviews, the notice says.

“HHS is aware that this committee review is perceived to be an obstacle to non-federally funded research,” a Health and Human Services spokeswoman says. “The department expects the action announced today will help facilitate further research to advance our understanding about the health risks and any potential benefits of medications using marijuana or its components or derivatives.”

Dr. Igor Grant, director of the University of California’s Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research, has been involved with seven studies that went through the process.

“It’s a process that took on average a year – as short as six months, as long as 18 months,” he says. “It was a significant burden on investigators to do this.”

Even so, Grant’s California government-funded studies fared better than some other research efforts.

Dr. Sue Sisley, formerly of the University of Arizona, says she waited three years for the Public Health Service to approve her proposed study into marijuana’s effects on post-traumatic stress disorder.

Sisley says she received investigational drug approval from the FDA in April 2011 and mailed the proposal to the PHS the same day. They approved the study in late March 2014, she says, without requiring a single change. Part of the three-year delay was the lag time between an initial rejection and resubmission of the proposal.

More than 20,000 veterans committed suicide during the delay, Sisley says, some of whom may have been helped by the research.

“That review was designed specifically to impede marijuana research in this country,” she says. “[It] served as a shameful tactic used by opponents of marijuana research who never wanted the American citizenry to see objective data about the efficacy of marijuana.”

It was difficult to find a bad word about the change, which was floated in sweeping pot reform legislation introduced this year by Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y.

“I didn’t personally advocate for it, but I’m supportive,” says Dr. Stuart Gitlow, an American Medical Association delegate and psychiatrist who works with the anti-marijuana legalization group Smart Approaches to Marijuana.

“Marijuana and its various components should be researched in the same manner as other potential medicines,” Gitlow says. “In this case, we’re well aware of risks associated with marijuana; that should be taken into consideration as we would for any other potential medicine with known associated risks.”

Though one bureaucratic berm is gone, there’s another more famous impediment still in place preventing a flood of research: the National Institute on Drug Abuse’s monopoly on growing legal marijuana.

Brad Burge, director of communications and marketing at the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, or MAPS, which supports Sisley’s research, says it’s been easier for the association to research MDMA – another Schedule I drug also known as ecstasy – than marijuana. And, he says, it likely will remain more difficult to study pot.

That’s because all pot researchers must acquire the drug from a single NIDA-approved grow site at the University of Mississippi. Though medical marijuana is legal under local law in 23 states, the Mississippi plot remains the only indisputably legal source of marijuana in the country.Pot sold legally under state law remains illegal federally.

The NIDA-approved grow site, critics say, is woefully inadequate to meet research needs.

“My own recommendation is there be licensed producers that are well-regulated in multiple locations,” Grant says. “You can’t really do it with just one source if there’s going to be a lot of research. If the research is very, very modest, obviously one source could accommodate it.”

The monopoly has kept Sisley from beginning her PTSD study, which will be done in cooperation with Johns Hopkins University and which won a grant from the state of Colorado.

“We were celebrating in March of last year thinking we had overcome the biggest obstacle, but that’s not true,” she says. “The biggest obstacle is we can’t get [the] study drug. We’ve had to wait 15 months for marijuana. Any expert grower in the country could have had marijuana grown to spec for us in three months. Only the federal government is so incompetent, it’s just pathetic.”

Sisley’s research will begin as soon as NIDA is able to provide her the drug, for which she needs a Schedule I license from the Drug Enforcement Administration, which she also can’t get before the drug is ready for delivery.

“The removal of each barrier against investigative research to determine the beneficial effects of this plant and plant extracts is good for public health,” says Lyle Craker, a University of Massachusetts Amherst plant scientist who struggled for years to open a second site for growing marijuana for research.

Craker, with backing from MAPS, applied for DEA permission to open a second farm for pot research in 2001. He won the endorsement of a DEA administrative law judge in 2007, but the DEA’s then-leader, Michele Leonhart – a fiery marijuana critic – spiked the idea in 2009 and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit ruled against him in 2013.

Leonhart resigned earlier this year following a sex party scandal and her interim successor, Chuck Rosenberg, is expected to make marijuana less of a priority.

Burge says MAPS is preparing a new request asking the DEA to allow a research grow site affiliated with the University of Massachusetts, and he’s hopeful Leonhart’s exit and the demise of Public Health Service reviews are signs the Obama administration is ready to open the doors wide to research.

“We’re hoping the overall political environment has shifted enough where we will actually get permission from the DEA to start this farm and then we won’t have to go through NIDA at all,” Burge says. “It’s a great opportunity for the Obama administration to show it’s progressive on marijuana issues. We’re pretty hopeful.”

Editorial Cartoons on Pot Legalization

Mike Liszewski, director of government affairs at the pro-medical marijuana group Americans for Safe Access, called Monday “a landmark day for the advancement of cannabis therapeutics.” But he cautioned against irrational exuberance so long as medical pot use remains illegal federally.

“Any fruits of the research born of today’s announcement will not come for many years to come, yet we have millions of patients currently legally using marijuana under state law and their physician’s supervision to treat their medical conditions,” he says. “These patients, their physicians, caregivers and those who produce their medicine desperately need protection from federal interference.”

The proposal would make Texas the fifth state in the United States to fully legalize recreational marijuana use. In a surprising, and “unprecedented” bipartisan move, the proposal was approved in a House panel vote.

Even more surprising to many was the fact that the author of the bill cited his Christian values as being the catalyst for the bill and his support for full legalization.

Republican David Simpson of Longview explained in an op-ed piece that it was his belief in God, and his distrust of government, as well as criticism of the “War on Drugs” which led him to sponsor the marijuana legalization bill.

“As a Christian, I recognize the innate goodness of everything God made and humanity’s charge to be stewards of the same,” Simpson explained. “I don’t believe that when God made marijuana he made a mistake that government needs to fix.”

The Texas House Criminal Jurisprudence Committeeapproved the bill which would make it legal to buy and sell marijuana in Texas.

According to the local Houston Chronicle, the panel’s three Democrats joined two Republicans giving House Bill 2165 a “decisive 5-2 victory.”

This vote came only days after a 4-2 vote to decriminalize marijuana. This marked the first proposal to decriminalize that has made it out of a Texas legislative committee to date.

“Marijuana policy reform continues to make unprecedented progress this session,” Phillip Martin of the organization Progress Texas commented on Twitter, following the vote.

Simpson penned the House Bill 2165, listing it as “an Act relating to repealing marihuana offenses.”

That’s because the bill looks to suspect “state jail felony” convictions related to marijuana, and instead have such sentence replaced with offenders being “on community supervision.”

The only hangups were some aspects of the language that needed refining, which politicians wanted to make sure kept it illegal for minors to consume marijuana without parental supervision.

A remarkable case report documents a 14-year old girl who, after 34-months of chemo, radiation and bone marrow transplant treatments, was given up for dead. Her family discovered research on cannabis extract, and before she died of a secondary complication of her original treatment, used it successfully to put her leukemia into remission.

There are plenty of anecdotal reports of the successful use of cannabis in treating cancer, but few cases occur under conventional medical supervision, and virtually none make it into a peer-reviewed biomedical journal as a case report.

Despite a high remission rate for ALL after 5 year of 94% in children and 30-40% in adults using conventional combination chemotherapy, this particular child was diagnosed with a very aggressive (i.e. conventional treatment resistant) form of ALL (positive for the Philadelphia chromosome mutation).

After undergoing a protracted series of unsuccessful conventional treatments over the course of 34 months – including a bone marrow transplant, aggressive chemotherapy and radiation therapy — the girl’s case was pronounced ‘incurable,’ with the patient’s hematologist/oncologist stating that she “suffers from terminal malignant disease,” expecting her condition to progress rapidly towards death.

Because the family received no other suggestions for treatment beyond palliative care, they decided to do research on their own, stumbling on a paper published in Nature Reviews: Cancer in 2003 titled, “Cannibinoids: Potential Anti-Cancer Agents,” which encouraged them to administer oral cannabinoid extracts to the patient. According to the case report:

“The family found promise in an organization known as Phoenix Tears, led by Rick Simpson who had treated several cancers with hemp oil, an extract from the cannabis plant. Rick worked with the family to help them prepare the extract.”

With Rick Simpson’s assistance, the family used cannabis oil extract for the next 78 days, with regular monitoring of the blast cell count, the primary indicator of the malignant progression of the disease process.

The figure below shows the successful suppression of the blast cells using cannabis extract.

Clearly, the cannabis extract was effective at inhibiting the uncontrolled proliferation of the girl’s leukemia, without the highly toxic side effects of conventional treatment.

Sadly, however, on day 78, the 14-year old passed away as a consequence of bleeding associated with bowel perforation, and ultimately the lasting adverse effects of the original 34 months of aggressive treatment she had underwent previous to cannabis.

In the discussion portion of the case report, the authors noted,

“The results shown here cannot be attributed to the phenomenon of ‘spontaneous remission’ because a dose response curve was achieved… These results cannot be explained by any other therapies, as the child was under palliative care and was solely on cannabinoid treatment when the response was documented by the SickKids Hospital. The toxicology reports ruled out chemotherapeutic agents, and only showed her to be positive for THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) when she had ‘a recent massive decrease of WBC from 350,000 to 0.3′ inducing tumor lysis syndrome, as reported by the primary hematologist/oncologist at the SickKids Hospital.”

The study authors believe this therapy should be viewed as “polytherapy,” owing to the fact that a wide range of cannabinoids have been found within resinous extract, which demonstrate a variety of anti-cancer properties, e.g. anti-angiogenic, anti-proliferative, etc. They further acknowledged the potential for the profound superiority of cannabinoid therapy to conventional treatments:

”It must be noted that where our most advanced chemotherapeutic agents had failed to control the blast counts and had devastating side effects that ultimately resulted in the death of the patient, the cannabinoid therapy had no toxic side effects and only psychosomatic properties, with an increase in the patient’s vitality.”

About the Author

Sayer Ji is the founder of GreenMedInfo.com, an author, educator, Steering Committee Member of the Global GMO Free Coalition (GGFC), and an advisory board member of the National Health Federation.

He founded Greenmedinfo.com in 2008 in order to provide the world an open access, evidence-based resource supporting natural and integrative modalities. It is widely recognized as the most widely referenced health resource of its kind. Google Plus Profile.

The data is very strong and there’s no toxicity associated with A compound found in cannabis could halt the spread of many forms of aggressive cancer, scientists say.

The first research to show marijuana’s anti-tumor properties was presented at the American Association for Cancer Research meeting in Los Angeles in 2007 demonstrating that THC may activate biological pathways that halt cancer cell division or block development of blood vessels that feed tumors. It then became a target of synthetic research into THC for drugs such as ImClone System Inc.’s Erbitux and Amgen Inc.’s Vectibix.

Researchers have now found that the compound, called cannabidiol, had the ability to ‘switch off’ the gene responsible for metastasis in an aggressive form of breast cancer. Importantly, this substance does not produce the psychoactive properties of the cannabis plant.

The team from the California Pacific Medical Center, in San Francisco, first spotted its potential five years ago, after it stopped the proliferation of human breast cancer cells in the lab.

Last year they published a study that found a similar effect in mice. Now they say they are on the verge of publishing further animal study results that expand these results further.

Nonpsychoactive cannabinoids, such as cannabidoil, are particularly advantageous to use because they avoid toxicity that is encountered with psychoactive cannabinoids at high doses useful in the method of the present invention. CBD (Cannabidiol), one of the main constituents of the cannabis plant has been proven medically to relieve many diseases including the inhibition of cancer cell growth. Recent studies have shown it to be an effective atypical anti-psychotic in treating schizophrenia. CBD also interferes with the amount of THC your brain processes, balancing the psychotropic effect of marijuana. That is precisely why the power of raw cannabis is turning heads.

Speaking to the San Francisco Chronicle, study co-leader Dr Sean McAllister, said: ‘The preclinical trial data is very strong, and there’s no toxicity. There’s really a lot or research to move ahead with and to get people excited.’

While he, along with colleague Dr Pierre Desprez acknowledge that they are some way off from turning their finding into a pill, they are already developing human trial models. They hope to eventually test the drug in combination with current chemotherapies.

Professor Desprez had previously found that a protein called ID-1 seemed to play a role in causing breast cancer to spread. Meanwhile Dr McAllister had discovered the cannabidiol had anti-cancer potential.
The pair teamed up to see if they could treat a particularly aggressive form of breast cancer called ‘triple negative.’ This form, which affects 15 per cent of patients, doesn’t have three hormone receptors that the most successful therapies target. Cells from this cancer have high levels of ID-1.

When they exposed cells from this cancer to cannabidiol they were shocked to find the cells not only stopped acting ‘crazy’ but also returned to a healthy normal state.

They discovered that the compound had turned off the overexpression of ID-1, stopping them from travelling to distant tissues.

Other potentially treatable cancers are forms of leukaemia, lung, ovarian and brain cancers, which also have high levels of ID-1.

Dr Desprez has a particular reason for wanting to create a treatment as quickly as possible – his sister was recently diagnosed with aggressive breast cancer at the age of 41.

Her condition is currently receptive to hormone therapies but Professor Desprez fears it could recur in a form that lacks hormone receptors.

He said: ‘I want to be ready for that. There is a deadline.

Cannabis is a Class B drug that is illegal to have, give away or sell. “If cannabis were discovered in an Amazon rainforests today, people would be clambering to make as much use as they could out of the potential benefits of the plant,” said Donald L. Abrams, MD, Chief of Hematology and Oncology at San Francisco General Hospital and Professor of Medicine at the University California. Dr. Abrams is widely known for his research on medical cannabis applications. “Unfortunately, it carries with it a long and not so long history of being a persecuted plant,” he added.

Marco Torres is a research specialist, writer and consumer advocate for healthy lifestyles. He holds degrees in Public Health and Environmental Science and is a professional speaker on topics such as disease prevention, environmental toxins and health policy.

Even though medical marijuana is legal in California, it is illegal for users to buy firearms because the federal government considers it a controlled substance. (Published Friday, Sept. 30, 2011)
Federal law states it is illegal to possess a firearm if you use a controlled substance. Marijuana — even medical marijuana — is considered a controlled substance.
In a response to multiple gun dealers, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives explained, “There are no exceptions in federal law for marijuana purportedly used for medicinal purposes, even if such use is sanctioned by state law.”
Sixteen states, including California have legalized medical marijuana. The state has issued almost 57,000 medical marijuana cards, according to the California Department of Public Health.
Gun rights advocates and medical marijuana advocates are saying this policy is a violation of the second amendment right to keep and bear arms.
Licensed gun dealers cannot sell a gun or ammunition to anyone that indicates on the paperwork that they are using a controlled substance, or if the dealer has a “reasonable cause to believe” person uses drugs. Reasonable cause includes even talking about drugs.
In an interview with the Associated Press, Gary Marbut with the Montana Shooting Sports Association said this puts an unreasonable burden on gun dealers to police their customers.
“Their business is to be merchants, not to be cops. Unfortunately, the federal licensing scheme complicates that. It sounds as if the (ATF) is expecting them to drift further into the cop role,” Marbut said.
The Justice Department however believes that part of the responsibility of selling guns is to keep them away from people who are prohibited from having them.

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